Is it true though? Or are the tabloids just running exaggerated fantasies to harpoon mass appeal? It’s hard to know because these grandiose lifestyles are perpetuated by the attention drawn to them (unless the celebrity is actually talented). Case in point — the Kardashian sex tape.

Bad publicity is good publicity, I suppose… especially for the venues that become associated with celebrity attendance (who doesn’t want to go to places where you might see a rockstar in a bar fight or catch Paris Hilton stripping down to… well… a slightly more naked version of her usual self?).

When talking about club publicity, nothing turns up the temp on a particular venue more than the drug habits of the celebrities. The scandalous behaviors of one Miss Britney Spears has made headlines for a variety of clubs in New York including an all time personal favorite, Marquee. Yes, she has been caught using drugs in the public bathrooms all around town and she’s not the only one. The question then becomes, of course, how many drugs are being done in these places? Certainly you run a high risk (pun intended) of being caught abusing drugs if you are a celebrity, but what about us ordinary folk? Are drugs swimming through the clubs as the tabloids would have us believe?

The answer is YES. I would never consider myself a drug abuser, but I know first hand that almost every club I have been to has it’s own underground microcosmic drug scene. Club Stereo was closed last year after several cocaine busts, though this came as no shock as Stereo was known for being “pot friendly” and leaving the club was like opening the Scoobie Doo van (smoke pouring out). Tenjune turns the other cheek when it comes to smoking the reefer in the VIP section and won’t ask why there are so many girls leaving the bathroom with runny noses. The real shocker comes from Le Souk where I witnessed some special k being snorted in the wide open.

I have also witnessed people getting arrested. Again, Club Stereo, you win in this department with flying colors. On two — no three occasions I witnessed drug raids there, but in the end, drug use was far far more frequent than the arrests that were made. This can probably be said true for almost any club and can be said especially true for celebrities. Amongst my celebrity encounters few involved sobriety (or much respect for, I dunno… THE LAW). Indeed, the Studio 54 mentality lives on in places like Bungalow 8 (where you might just order “a rum and coke.. hold the rum”).

These scenes are often under the radar of the public because of tight security. It’s nearly impossible to get in unless you know someone, ARE a celebrity or (at the very least) have your very own assistant. Places rarely have to answer to the law because undercover cops simply do not fit the demographic of these super-dooper (more like super-doper) high-end venues.

This doesn’t mean that the celebrity lives we read about aren’t embellished to perfection, but it certainly adds validity to the stories. The truth of the matter is, we aren’t living lives so separate from those we read about and if anything can be learned from the tabloids, it’s two things: 1) where the drugs are 2) where people get caught doing them.

Alright, you’ve just arrived in a new city, eager to explore all it has to offer and excited for classes to begin. Making friends should be easy, right? Well, maybe not…

As I mentioned before, I arrived in Dublin well before my classes started, so I had to wait a few weeks to meet the people in my program. I assumed I’d meet people in my dorm, but I soon realized that a) my dorm only had 12 single rooms and b) no one had moved in yet. Damn. One morning I heard signs on life on my floor, so I went into the communal kitchen to have a look. There I met Colin, who immediately informed me that he knew everything about our school because he went there for undergrad and his masters and now his PhD, and his dad was some important dean. He talked my ear off for an hour, including as many details as possible (including the fact that he had JUST moved out of his parents house…shocking!), until I finally managed to excuse myself. Good lord.

When I finally got my student ID card, I tried meeting new people at the computer lab. Strike two! I was baffled by the amount of students in the labs typing away at a furious pace, as if studying for exams or writing papers—turns out masters theses are due in October, so the labs were crammed with people knee-deep in research. No one seemed open to socializing.

Finally I figured I’d wait it out until classes started, so I could meet all the interesting people in my program. Even that, however, proved difficult. Turns out most of the people in my program had come straight from undergrad, so they already had friends on campus. I found myself naturally gravitating towards the handful of other Americans, which is what I had wanted to avoid—I’m in Ireland, I should be making friends with Irish people! It all seemed rather hopeless—I envisioned myself mostly friendless, sitting alone in pubs and wishing I could call my parents without outrageous international fees.

I eventually realized that I was missing the key element to meeting new people in a new place: patience! You aren’t going to make a ton of best friends right away, and you may find that natives to your country-of-choice already have their social cliques, which can be hard to break into. The best thing I did was participate in as many events as possible. The grad student union had a few social nights at the local pub (where I met my future boyfriend), and some walking tours of campus. I also got a part-time job (more on that later), which helped me make friends (nothing like slave labor for creating bonds!).

Have any hobbies or other extracurricular interests? Pursue them! As an avid yogi, I joined a yoga studio soon after I arrived, so I was able to meet people with a common interest. I also hit up the school’s Fall club fair—it was a bit weird walking around the club tables with all the freshmen (I was 23!), but I sought out the popular tables and ended up joining a society that hosted debates and other interesting lectures, perfect for meeting all sorts of people.

Be outgoing, seek out social opportunities of all sorts, and don’t forget to have fun! In no time you’ll go from new-kid loner to social butterfly.